This is What 330 Pounds of Lipstick Looks Like

Published Oct 18, 2012

You know the old saying that says a person eats around seven pounds of lipstick in their lifetime? Try imagining what 330 pounds of the stuff looks like.

As part of his newest exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo, French artist Fabrice Hyber sculpted a massive cubic meter of red listick sitting atop a cold cement slab. The sculpture, entitled "1M3 de beauté" is part of a larger exhibition called "Matières Premières” (raw materials) showing through the holidays.

Inspired by the masculine and feminine elements of the Saint Laurent house, Fabrice chose Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture in Le Rouge as his muse and medium. Fabrice was interested in materiality and transformation when sculpting the piece, "a material that permanently moves...a work that is never finished," he recently explained to WWD.

Artists have long used makeup as inspiration. In fact, we're instantly reminded of Claes Oldenburg's hyper-scaled lipstick sculpture and these other amazing examples, but in this case the actual material of the makeup—not just the typical cylindrical tube—is of interest. Color and texture take first priority here, but we're just left wondering what happens to all the YSL after the exhibition ends.